OpenWiring#1. Introduction and installation
#What OpenWiring is
OpenWiring is an electrical CAD: you do not draw lines, you draw connected devices. The program knows
that contact -2K1 13-14 belongs to coil -2K1, that two wires joined by a dot are the same conductor and
that terminal -X1:3 carries wire 1.06 to the motor. From this information it works out by itself:
- the cross-references between coils and contacts, and between different pages;
- the wire numbers and their position on the schematic;
- the lists: bill of materials, purchase list, devices, terminals, connections, wires, cables, PLC I/O;
- the check of the project: short circuits, missing connections, duplicate tags;
- the exports: PDF with clickable links, DXF, Excel for TIA Portal, labels for marking printers.
The concepts are the usual ones of industrial electrical drawing: IEC 81346 tags, 4 mm grid, A3 pages with
10 columns, /page.column cross-references, all with a simple interface.
#Installation
The program is downloaded from the Releases page of the project on GitHub (https://github.com/elconfa/OpenWiring/releases).
| System | File to download |
|---|---|
| macOS with Apple processor (M1, M2, M3, M4) | OpenWiring-x.y.z-arm64.dmg |
| macOS with Intel processor | OpenWiring-x.y.z.dmg |
| Windows 10 and 11, with installation | OpenWiring.Setup.x.y.z.exe |
| Windows, without installation (a single file, also from a USB stick) | OpenWiring-x.y.z-portable.exe |
| Windows, without installation (folder) | OpenWiring-x.y.z-win.zip |
#macOS
- Open the
.dmgfile and drag OpenWiring into the Applications folder. - Open the app once: the warning «Apple cannot verify…» appears, because the app is not signed with a paid Apple certificate. Close the warning.
- Open System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, press Open Anyway and confirm. On macOS 14 and earlier, right-click the app ▸ Open ▸ Open is enough.
If «OpenWiring is damaged» appears (versions up to 0.14.0): open the Terminal and run
xattr -cr /Applications/OpenWiring.app, then open the app again.
#Windows
Extract the zip into a folder (for example Documents\OpenWiring-app) and start OpenWiring.exe. In the blue SmartScreen window choose More info ▸ Run anyway.
#Interface language
On first start the program uses the language of the system if it is Italian, English, French, German, Spanish or Russian. You can change it at any time with View ▸ Language · Lingua. The language of the schematics (title blocks, lists, PDF) is a separate setting: see chapter 16.
#First start
On first start the example project «Avviamento motore pompa» (pump motor starter) opens, six ready-made pages to explore:
| Page | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | power: motor protection switch, contactor, terminal strip, cable and motor; 24 V power supply |
| 2 | control: emergency stop, start with self-holding, lamps |
| 3 | PLC inputs and outputs |
| 4 | overview of the PLC card, generated by the program |
| 5 | Profinet and Modbus network diagram between two cabinets |
| 6 | single-line diagram of the power circuit |
It can be reopened at any time with File ▸ Load the example project; File ▸ New project starts from an empty page.
#Saving your work
- Save (⌘S) writes the project to an
.ecadfile. Save as… (⇧⌘S) makes a copy. - Open (⌘O) reopens an
.ecadfile. The file contains everything: pages, settings, symbols and parts used. - The program also keeps an automatic copy of the last open project and offers it again when it restarts: it is a safety net in case of an unexpected shutdown, not a replacement for Save.
- The status bar at the bottom shows the file name and a dot
•when there are unsaved changes.
#Undo
Every change can be undone with ⌘Z (Edit ▸ Undo) and redone with ⇧⌘Z (Ctrl+Y on Windows). Up to 100 steps can be undone, including large operations such as applying pages written by the AI assistant or a bulk edit of many devices.
Edit this page on GitHub · OpenWiring 2.0.6 · GPL-3.0